MESA, Ariz. — The Chicago Cubs returned from their Japan trip at 7 p.m. Wednesday and had a game scheduled at Sloan Park a day-and-a-half later.
The Dodgers, meanwhile, flew back to Los Angeles from Tokyo and are off until Sunday night, when they start their annual Freeway Series against the Angels at Dodger Stadium.
Another break for the Dodgers, or just an old-fashioned Cubbie occurrence?
Neither, actually, and the relatively quick return to action didn’t really matter for the Cubs. Nico Hoerner, making his 2025 Cactus League debut, and a lineup filled with minor-leaguers wound up losing to the San Diego Padres 5-1 at Sloan Park.
The ballpark would’ve been filled to the brim even if manager Craig Counsell, pitching coach Tommy Hottovy and the rest of the coaches took the field instead of players.
Follow the money, as the boomers say.
Friday’s game drew a crowd of 16,020, and the Cubs entered the day with a major-league-leading average attendance of 12,664 this spring, just ahead of the Dodgers’ 11,065 average at Camelback Ranch in Glendale, Ariz.
Jet lag, of course, is being addressed as the Cubs revert to meaningless games in Mesa after losing the first two games of the regular season to the Dodgers. Players from the trip were told to come to camp Friday on their own schedule, or not. No one would be punished for sleeping in.
“Let everybody kind of recover on a case-by-case basis,” Counsell said. “Everybody has got to listen to their bodies in this situation. Today (and Saturday) we’re just getting everybody running around … and we’ll start some normal spring training games on Sunday. There is a challenge of playing regular-season games and then going back to spring training, I think we have to acknowledge, apart from the travel.”
So why didn’t Counsell sleep in and let one of his coaches manage?
“I’m excited to see Nico play, really,” he said. “Everybody wanted to come back out. Just wanted to shorten the first couple days here.”
Hoerner missed the trip while continuing to rehab from October’s flexor tendon surgery on his right arm. He went 0-for-3 Friday and is expected to be ready for Thursday’s reopener.
“It was disappointing (to miss Japan) but it was never really the goal from the start of surgery,” he said. “I was going to be on a pretty aggressive timeline to make that happen, and it was not worth it, getting me ready for the season. I wanted to be their with the guys in an incredible setting. Everyone had amazing feedback for how the trip was run.”
Hoerner played in minor-league games while the Cubs were in Tokyo and said he was able to steal bases and get 20-plus at-bats and “get in the flow of game-speed stuff.” He wouldn’t predict whether the Cubs would put him on the roster in time for Thursday’s game. He could DH in some games this week to get prepared.
Hoerner admitted he didn’t see all of the two games, which began at 3 a.m. in Phoenix.
“I was up around 5 (a.m.), which put me around the seventh inning,” he said. “So I did not see every pitch, but I was rooting for the guys for sure.”
Counsell also announced he’ll start Justin Steele on Thursday against the Arizona Diamondbacks, with Jameson Taillon getting the nod in Game 2 of the series. Shota Imanaga, who threw four scoreless innings in the Tokyo opener, could get one more outing in the Cactus League before they decide when his next start will be.
Counsell said they had to figure out what to do with Imanaga in terms of his preparation and recovery. He said he had “no concerns” about Steele, who gave up two home runs in Wednesday’s loss after serving up four in 8 2/3 innings in the Cactus League.
Jordan Wicks was optioned to Triple-A Iowa on Wednesday and will get stretched out as a starter.
The Tokyo Series opener drew an average of more than 25 million viewers across all platforms, according to MLB, the most-watched MLB game ever in Japan. In the U.S., the opener on Fox averaged 838,000 viewers, while Game 2 on FS1 averaged 361,000 viewers. The games were played early in the morning in the U.S., which obviously factored into the lower ratings.
Counsell, who was booed in Japan for intentionally walking Shohei Ohtani with a man on and first base open, said the best part of the trip was the “team bonding” despite the losses.
